Your First Chart
This guide walks you through adding the Sankey Diagram to a Power BI report and connecting it to data. The Sankey Diagram is a good starting point because it has a straightforward data model (source, target, and a value) and produces a visually distinctive result you can verify immediately.
Prerequisites
- Power BI Desktop installed, or access to Power BI Service in edit mode
- The Sankey Diagram visual installed (see Installing)
- A data source with at least two categorical columns and one numeric column
Step 1 — Add the Visual to the Canvas
- Open your report in Power BI Desktop or the Power BI Service (edit mode).
- Click the Sankey Diagram icon in the Visualizations pane.
- A blank visual placeholder appears on the report canvas. Resize and position it as needed.
Step 2 — Bind Your Data
With the visual selected, open the Data tab in the Visualizations pane (the fields icon). You will see three data roles:
| Data Role | What to drag here | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Source | The origin node of each flow | Product category, Region |
| Target | The destination node of each flow | Sales channel, Sub-category |
| Value | The numeric weight of each flow | Revenue, Units sold |
Drag your fields from the Fields pane into each role. The chart renders as soon as Source and Target are populated; Value defaults to count if omitted.
Step 3 — Configure Basic Settings
Open the Format tab (the paint roller icon) to adjust appearance.
Color Scheme
Under Colors, choose a palette or assign individual colors to nodes. BTA Charts visuals support Power BI's theme colors by default, so the chart will match your report theme without manual configuration.
Legend
Under Legend, toggle the legend on or off and set its position (top, bottom, left, right). The legend labels correspond to the Source node values by default.
Labels
Under Labels, control whether node names appear inline on the chart or are hidden. For charts with many nodes, turning off labels and relying on tooltips can reduce clutter.
Step 4 — Verify Tooltips
Hover over a flow band or a node to confirm that the default tooltip shows the source name, target name, and value. Tooltip fields can be extended under the Tooltip data role if you need additional measures in the popup.
Next Steps
- Read the full Sankey Diagram documentation for advanced options including node ordering, highlight behavior, and conditional formatting.
- Explore Shared Concepts to understand data roles and formatting patterns that apply to all BTA Charts visuals.
- Browse the full chart library to find the right visual for your next use case.